A few years ago, a small business that wanted help with its website could hire an agency, hire a freelancer, employ someone, or do the work alone. Today there is another choice. Services built on AI agents offer to write the pages, fix the technical problems, update the Google listing and report every month. Licheo is one of them, so we have an interest here, and we say so at the start.
That is exactly why this article exists. When a service is new, the buyer has fewer reference points. What should you ask? The good news is that Google has already written the questions, for anyone hiring an SEO, and they apply to AI services with almost no change. We add a few questions that AI raises on its own, and at the end we answer them for Licheo, using only what Licheo has published.
Why do Google's rules for hiring an SEO apply to AI services too?
Because you carry the risk, whoever does the work. Google's page "Do you need an SEO?" says it plainly: if an SEO creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, your site could be removed entirely from Google's index, and "ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire". An AI agent acting for your business is, for this purpose, a company you hired.
Google's guidance on third-party SEO tools adds two facts that every buyer should keep in mind. Third-party tools do not have access to Google's internal ranking data, and they cannot guarantee performance. And Google does not evaluate third-party services, so it tells owners to be wary of any service that claims or implies its work is "acceptable" or "approved" by Google Search.
With that settled, here are the questions.
Who approves each change before it goes live?
An AI system can publish many edits in a short time. That speed is useful only if the edits are right. Google suggests asking any SEO: "Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site, and provide detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them?"
For an AI service, go one step further. Ask whether the agents publish directly to your live website, or whether each change waits for your approval. Ask what you will see before you approve: the old version, the new version, and the reason. A service that cannot show you this is asking you to accept work you cannot check.
Who owns the accounts, the website and the content?
Your Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Business Profile accounts are the records of your business online. Each tool has its own roles. In Search Console, for example, Google lists Owner, Full user and Restricted user permissions, and only owners can add other users. Google also says a property must have at least one verified owner, and that if the only verified owner leaves, you must verify ownership again to keep access.
The safe arrangement is simple: the business owns every account, and the service is added as a user. At the assessment stage, Google advises granting read access to Search Console only. Ask the same about the website itself (the domain name, the hosting, the files) and about the content the AI writes. Who owns the pages if you stop paying? We explore this question at length in who owns your website after an agency, and our page on SEO without a long contract lists the clauses to read.
What happens to your data?
An AI service may read your website, your analytics, your customer enquiries and your reviews. Ask four things: which data it collects, where it stores it, who can see it, and what happens to it when you leave. Ask for the answers in writing.
Your own tools already set some rules. Google Analytics, for example, requires that no personally identifiable information (names, email addresses, phone numbers) is collected through its measurement. A careful service will know rules like this before you mention them.
How is the AI content made, and does it follow Google's spam policies?
This is the question that belongs to AI services more than to any other type of provider. Google's guidance on generative AI content says AI "can be particularly useful when researching a topic, and to add structure to original content". It also says that using AI "to generate many pages without adding value for users may violate Google's spam policy on scaled content abuse". Google's spam policies define scaled content abuse as many pages generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings, and they apply "no matter how it's created".
So ask: how many pages will you publish, and why each one? Where does the first-hand information come from? Who checks the facts? Google also lists a question to put to any SEO: do you follow the Google Search Essentials? An AI service should answer yes, and explain how.
What can the service not do?
Every honest provider has limits, and asking for them tells you a great deal. Google's SEO Starter Guide says there are no secrets that will automatically rank a site first. Google's page on AI features says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and that no new machine-readable files, AI text files or special schema markup are needed. If a service's main offer is a special file for AI, you now know what Google says about it.
There are also things software cannot create for a business: real customer reviews, relationships with other local businesses, press coverage, and the owner's own expertise. A good service says this before you ask.
What does the service promise, and by when?
Google's guidance is short on this point: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." It warns against SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, claim a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit". Google also says it never accepts money to include or rank sites, and that appearing in its organic results costs nothing.
Google suggests asking what results the provider expects, in what timeframe, and how it measures success. It also asks for examples of previous work. Its SEO Starter Guide adds a realistic note on time: some changes take effect in a few hours, others take several months, and you will usually want to wait a few weeks before judging whether the work helped.
The questions in one table
| Question | Why it matters | The answer to hear | |---|---|---| | Who approves each change? | Google says you are responsible for the companies you hire | You see every change, with the reason, before it goes live | | Who owns the accounts, domain and content? | Only Search Console owners can add users, and access is lost if the only owner leaves | Your business owns everything; the service is added as a user | | What happens to my data? | Your data leaves your control once shared | A written answer: what is collected, where, who sees it, what happens when you leave | | How is AI content made? | Many pages without added value may violate Google's scaled content abuse policy | A clear plan of pages, with facts checked and first-hand material from you | | What can you not do? | Google says there are no secrets that automatically rank a site first | A plain list of limits, such as reviews and expertise | | What do you promise, and by when? | Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking | Realistic timeframes and how success will be measured | | How do I leave? | A long contract keeps you paying for work you no longer want | A short notice period and a handover of everything you own |
Our guide to judging any SEO or website provider adds the warning signs to watch for during the sales conversation.
How does Licheo answer these questions?
Here we apply the list to ourselves, using only facts published on licheo.com.
- Approval. Nothing goes live until the owner approves it.
- What the service does. Licheo is a done-for-you service. A team of specialist AI agents builds a small business its website, makes it findable on Google and in AI assistants (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews), and shapes pages to turn visitors into customers. The owner learns no tools and manages no dashboard.
- Limits. Our agents cannot create reviews, relationships, press coverage or real expertise for you. Our page on what AI agents do explains the rest.
- Promises. This article makes no promise of rankings or traffic, and neither should any provider, for the reasons Google gives above.
- Contracts. Licheo works without long contracts.
- Past work. Our case studies show examples of our work.
- Accounts, content and data. Our published pages do not cover these points in detail, so ask us on a call and ask for the answer in writing, exactly as you would ask anyone else.
- Price. Contact us for pricing.
Before any conversation, you can also see how we assess a website. The free Get Found Check reads your homepage, your DNS records and your security certificate, and returns a grade in under 60 seconds. It asks for no access to your accounts.
The website, search and AI work that big companies pay whole teams for, done for your small business: that is the promise of this new type of service, and these questions are how you test it. For a comparison of all five ways to get the work done, see who does your marketing, and for the wider story of how this became possible, read how big-company marketing reached the small business.
Sources
- Do you need an SEO?, Google Search Central, Last updated 2026-06-05, accessed 27 September 2026.
- Google Search's guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice, Google Search Central, Last updated 2026-06-05, accessed 27 September 2026.
- Managing owners, users, and permissions, Google Search Console Help, accessed 27 September 2026.
- Enhanced measurement events, Google Analytics Help, accessed 27 September 2026.
- Google Search's Guidance on Generative AI Content on Your Website, Google Search Central, Last updated 2025-12-10, accessed 27 September 2026.
- Spam Policies for Google Web Search, Google Search Central, Last updated 2026-08-28, accessed 27 September 2026.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide, Google Search Central, Last updated 2025-12-10, accessed 27 September 2026.
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central, Last updated 2025-12-10, accessed 27 September 2026.